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 A TRIBUTE TO POPE FRANCIS. BELOVED FATHER.             OUR WORLD, A FAMILY OF FAMILIES

Toni Rowland, MARFAM.  (and members of the MARFAM BOARD 2025)  

On Easter Monday  21 April 2025, the Church and the world lost a great man.  We mourn the death of our beloved Holy Father, Pope Francis as Catholics, believers and many other citizens of the world.  We have seen and heard hundreds of wonderful tributes from millions of people about his compassion, his humility and the concern for and pastoral care he gave to the poor, migrants, the elderly and marginalized and his personal response to the cry of the earth.

Let us not forget that one of the earliest acts of his pontificate in 2013 was an expression of concern for the needs of families, through a discernment process and synods in 2014 and 2015 on the Family and Evangelisation.  These resulted in his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the Joy of Love on Marriage and the Family. His 2015 encyclical Laudato Si – on Care of our Common Home called for action towards an integral ecology of all aspects of life and the common good. Families are at the heart of this journey through tenderness, education and action.  Pope Francis’ legacy, is not only what he gave and left to the world, but how we, as human families, commit to continue to care for all the families in our common home, human, animal and plant. Starting from each family and each home these documents are essential catechetical resources for the families of our day. 

Long before this 2025 Jubilee year where he calls on Catholics to be Pilgrims of Hope he expressed a hope in Amoris Laetitia.  “It is my hope that in reading the text all will feel called to love and cherish family life, for “families are not a problem, they are first and foremost an opportunity.”  AL7. An opportunity to be Signs of Hope.  RIP

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